He might have looked a bit hapless on court in Saturday’s Doha final, walloped 6-1, 6-2 by an imperious Novak Djokovic, but Rafael Nadal did manage to stir things up post-match.
“I played against a player who did everything perfect,” Nadal said. “I know nobody playing tennis like this ever. Since I know this sport, I never saw somebody playing at this level.”
Now, Djokovic deserves every praise that comes his way, but when you use the word “ever”, it tends to open a can of worms. In tennis parlance, it reignites a usually bitter and acrimonious debate over the Greatest Of All Time, let’s refer to it as Goat for short.
The fans of Roger Federer, considered one of the greatest to ever play the game, alongside, of course, Nadal and Djokovic, will probably take the Spaniard’s words as a slight. They will point to his 237 consecutive weeks (302 in total) at No 1 in the rankings and his impressive grand slam record: between the 2005 Wimbledon and 2010 Australian Open, Federer reached the final at each of the 19 grand slams save one, the 2008 Australian Open, when he lost to Djokovic in the semi-finals.
Djokovic’s best figures are his current streaks: 80 consecutive weeks at No 1 and six finals reached in the last seven majors.
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But given his domination of the Swiss, a lopsided 23-11 head-to-head, including 9-2 in grand slams, it should not be a surprise that Nadal picks Djokovic, a man who has won nine of their last 10 duels, eight of them in straight sets, including the 2015 French Open quarter-final, for such high praise. He is not alone.
Nick Bollettieri, the famed tennis coach, is among many others who share a similar view. According to him, Djokovic is “the best put-together player” he has seen over 60 years, with no “weakness” or “downfall”.
It would be hard to argue against such assessments, especially after the year Djokovic has just had. He finished 2015 with an 82-6 win-loss record and 11 titles, including three grand slams, six Masters and the year-end championship.
A ranking of the best seasons in men’s tennis history, known as the Goatometer puts Djokovic’s 2015 (41 points) as the best year for any player in the Open era, just ahead of Federer’s 2006 (40 points), and Rod Laver’s 1969 (39 points).
Federer, however, is still way ahead of Djokovic in the Goatometer’s list of the top 100 Goat, a ranking that rewards consistency at the grand slams and the weeks spent at No 1.
He is at the top of the list with 292 points, ahead of Jimmy Connors (252) and Ivan Lendl (247). Nadal is at No 5, on 209 points, while Djokovic is at No 7 on 205 points, just behind 14-time grand slam champion Pete Sampras (207 points).
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So there is still a long way to go for Djokovic before he comes anywhere near Federer on that list. But then, he has time on his side. The Serb is supremely fit, probably the greatest athlete the sport has ever seen and, as Nadal’s Doha shellacking clearly suggests, he is playing at an otherworldly level.
Djokovic’s closest rival on the court, at least on the basis of 2015, is Federer, 34, and no one from the rest of “Generation Next” seems capable of challenging him. His domination is set to continue.
"He's in his prime and I think that he can stay at the top of the game for another five or six years," Tim Henman, the former British No 1, told the Belfast Telegraph last summer. "If you think of those opportunities in the grand slams, if it's five years, it's 20."
Over the past five years, Djokovic has won nine grand slam titles and lost six finals. So, mathematically, and barring a catastrophic injury, Federer’s all-time tally of 17 looks under threat if Djokovic can maintain his stratospheric levels.
He needs eight more to overhaul Federer’s mark, but consider this: Boris Becker, Djokovic’s coach, has six grand slam titles on his CV. Connors, Lendl and Agassi have eight, while John McEnroe finished with seven. So while 17 might seem within reach, it is definitely not as simple as some may think.
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